ᐅ Location of a city villa or detached single-family house on a 500 m² rectangular plot
Created on: 17 Jan 2020 18:03
T
Tolentino
Dear all,
after sharing the floor plans of my possible hamster cage with you in the other thread , here comes the next thread (thanks again for all the constructive suggestions there).
Just so you know, the semi-detached house is not off the table yet, as this plot of land is highly sought after and it’s not clear whether it will work out. But this one would be my favorite.
Now to this plot. For now, I’m mainly concerned with where and roughly how the house should be positioned on this plot.
Development plan / restrictions
Plot size: 500 m² (5400 sq ft)
Slope: none
Site coverage ratio: 0.2
Floor area ratio: 0.4
Building envelope, building line and boundary: 5 m (16 ft) from the street, 3 m (10 ft) from neighbors
Edge development: allowed for garages and sheds, none existing on the plot
Number of parking spaces: 1-2
Number of floors: 1.5–2.5
Roof shape: no preference
Architectural style: no preference
Orientation: aligned parallel to the street
Maximum heights / limits: ridge height max. 9 m (30 ft)
Below are the site plans I created myself based on the details from the listing.
This is a rough overview of the plot with building boundaries and dimensions.
My question is: where to put the house?
The broker suggests placing it towards the back, since you already have the 5 m (16 ft) setback at the front and would “gain” about 3 m (10 ft) of garden. My partner doesn’t like this because of the visibility from the street. I say: privacy screen! But I also think, a fence too high might create a prison-yard feel.
But even if you follow this suggestion, I wonder if a more square floor plan (-> town villa style) would be better?
Like this, for example:
Then parking space might be tricky, right?
Or upright like this?
I really want as much of a west-facing view and garden as possible. I tend to be an evening person and that side is less built up, due to the road. So I think more light comes through.
But the narrow floor plan caused lots of problems with the semi-detached house already. Well, here you could build longer instead.
What do you think?
Best regards
Tolentino
after sharing the floor plans of my possible hamster cage with you in the other thread , here comes the next thread (thanks again for all the constructive suggestions there).
Just so you know, the semi-detached house is not off the table yet, as this plot of land is highly sought after and it’s not clear whether it will work out. But this one would be my favorite.
Now to this plot. For now, I’m mainly concerned with where and roughly how the house should be positioned on this plot.
Development plan / restrictions
Plot size: 500 m² (5400 sq ft)
Slope: none
Site coverage ratio: 0.2
Floor area ratio: 0.4
Building envelope, building line and boundary: 5 m (16 ft) from the street, 3 m (10 ft) from neighbors
Edge development: allowed for garages and sheds, none existing on the plot
Number of parking spaces: 1-2
Number of floors: 1.5–2.5
Roof shape: no preference
Architectural style: no preference
Orientation: aligned parallel to the street
Maximum heights / limits: ridge height max. 9 m (30 ft)
Below are the site plans I created myself based on the details from the listing.
This is a rough overview of the plot with building boundaries and dimensions.
My question is: where to put the house?
The broker suggests placing it towards the back, since you already have the 5 m (16 ft) setback at the front and would “gain” about 3 m (10 ft) of garden. My partner doesn’t like this because of the visibility from the street. I say: privacy screen! But I also think, a fence too high might create a prison-yard feel.
But even if you follow this suggestion, I wonder if a more square floor plan (-> town villa style) would be better?
Like this, for example:
Then parking space might be tricky, right?
Or upright like this?
I really want as much of a west-facing view and garden as possible. I tend to be an evening person and that side is less built up, due to the road. So I think more light comes through.
But the narrow floor plan caused lots of problems with the semi-detached house already. Well, here you could build longer instead.
What do you think?
Best regards
Tolentino
No, but I also can’t be forced to maintain this "undignified" living space... That’s what I would say. And it was actually the caseworker from the housing office who brought this basic idea to my attention. She just didn’t provide the necessary limit, or rather, I forgot to ask. In the law on misuse of residential property and the related regulation, there is no definition of living space. Therefore, the definition must be derived from another legal basis. That would be my opinion on the matter.
Update:
The housing authority has initially confirmed to me informally that the existing property is not classified as protected residential space under the vacancy law. I am allowed to convert my application for vacancy permission into an application for a negative certificate. That’s a huge relief. Otherwise, the application would have been rejected, and I would have had to pay 10–50% of the fees (250 EUR) anyway. I could also just demolish it at my own risk, with the chance that I might still be violating regulations...
Berlin authorities...
Anyway, theoretically I could start demolition now, but we still need to completely disconnect electricity and water; otherwise, the demolition contractor will not begin.
Water is not much of an issue.
As for electricity, one person told my electrician that processing takes 8 weeks. Another person called me and said someone would contact me this week regarding disconnection.
Also, the building permit / planning permission is finally here.
So, the project can start soon.
But now the general contractor (GC) no longer responds to my inquiries and is unreachable by phone...
The housing authority has initially confirmed to me informally that the existing property is not classified as protected residential space under the vacancy law. I am allowed to convert my application for vacancy permission into an application for a negative certificate. That’s a huge relief. Otherwise, the application would have been rejected, and I would have had to pay 10–50% of the fees (250 EUR) anyway. I could also just demolish it at my own risk, with the chance that I might still be violating regulations...
Berlin authorities...
Anyway, theoretically I could start demolition now, but we still need to completely disconnect electricity and water; otherwise, the demolition contractor will not begin.
Water is not much of an issue.
As for electricity, one person told my electrician that processing takes 8 weeks. Another person called me and said someone would contact me this week regarding disconnection.
Also, the building permit / planning permission is finally here.
So, the project can start soon.
But now the general contractor (GC) no longer responds to my inquiries and is unreachable by phone...
Here’s a brief update:
I now have an official negative certificate from the housing authority confirming that the existing building on the plot is not considered protected residential space under the regulations against misuse.
I have a building permit, which the general contractor needed in the original (is that common?), and the planning is progressing.
The subdivision is almost complete; at least, we have received a notice confirming the establishment of the new boundaries and parcel markers, as well as the continuation notification. This now just needs to be submitted to the land registry office.
Unfortunately, disconnecting the various utility lines is turning out to be more time-consuming than expected. Fortunately, my future neighbor is taking care of this. The processing times of the Berlin utility providers seem determined to outdo the delays of the Berlin authorities.
Reconnecting utilities is not easy either.
Anyone following the thread from the beginning knows that I own the front of two adjacent plots and therefore must grant the rear neighbor rights of passage, access, and utility easements. To ease my concerns about this and because it fit well otherwise, I decided to use that strip also as a shared access driveway.
To save costs, we had planned to install empty conduits in the trenches for the necessary lines during the electrical installation (EL) phase.
In my view, this could have been conveniently done immediately after demolition by the same excavation contractor while the excavator was still on site.
However, the same strip is also planned to be the construction road, which will be used by heavy construction vehicles and trucks for the next several months. So laying empty conduits underneath now might not be sensible. I recall a thread here where an empty conduit was damaged and rendered unusable despite no construction road existing.
Therefore, we will probably have to postpone the utility connections until after the shell construction phase or even later.
The issue with the access strip and construction road brings another challenge.
For the electricity supply, I had the idea of placing an outdoor utility post directly at the corner of the plot. There is an existing masonry pillar there that will remain and could act as a protective buffer for the power post. However, the network operator’s offer places the connection on the opposite side of the access strip, right in the middle of the construction road.
I have contacted them about this, but if responding to an email takes half as long as processing the electricity application, I might get an answer in about a month.
There is also the question of where the temporary construction power will come from. The masons will need it, right?
A small side adventure: There’s an old gas tank still on the property, which unfortunately the demolition company will only take away when it’s empty.
We had a level indicator showing about 20%. We tried to reduce this by heating the existing building. But it’s hard to empty a tank at 34°C (93°F) outside temperature and a maximum thermostat setting of 30°C (86°F). So we thought a gas professional might pump it out and appreciate the gas. Not so — they want 250 EUR and their business is literally around the corner, just 800 meters (half a mile) from the plot.
Not much neighborhood spirit there.
I have now requested a ventilation system and am waiting for an official quote from the general contractor for the BAFA funding application, as well as a separate quote for myself.
I’m curious to see how this will pan out in combination with the subsidy.
I was already informed that an increase in the upper floor height will be necessary for this. It’s not too expensive (approx. 1900 EUR), but I wondered how this affects the building permit. The height is already specified there — can I just change it now? The construction manager says that an additional 12-13 cm (5-5.1 inches) is no problem since I am in the first row.
I don’t understand what that has to do with it, since my concern is that I’m building differently than originally approved. Does this require an official amendment?
And finally: We have a new addition. This guy (you can see him in my avatar) has pedigree and is basically noble.
Having studied history, I know that the nobility did not always behave properly, but stepping on clothes is surely not part of that...
Still, it’s a joy to watch him grow and thrive. He won’t get his own room, so no need to adjust the floor plan. :P
I now have an official negative certificate from the housing authority confirming that the existing building on the plot is not considered protected residential space under the regulations against misuse.
I have a building permit, which the general contractor needed in the original (is that common?), and the planning is progressing.
The subdivision is almost complete; at least, we have received a notice confirming the establishment of the new boundaries and parcel markers, as well as the continuation notification. This now just needs to be submitted to the land registry office.
Unfortunately, disconnecting the various utility lines is turning out to be more time-consuming than expected. Fortunately, my future neighbor is taking care of this. The processing times of the Berlin utility providers seem determined to outdo the delays of the Berlin authorities.
Reconnecting utilities is not easy either.
Anyone following the thread from the beginning knows that I own the front of two adjacent plots and therefore must grant the rear neighbor rights of passage, access, and utility easements. To ease my concerns about this and because it fit well otherwise, I decided to use that strip also as a shared access driveway.
To save costs, we had planned to install empty conduits in the trenches for the necessary lines during the electrical installation (EL) phase.
In my view, this could have been conveniently done immediately after demolition by the same excavation contractor while the excavator was still on site.
However, the same strip is also planned to be the construction road, which will be used by heavy construction vehicles and trucks for the next several months. So laying empty conduits underneath now might not be sensible. I recall a thread here where an empty conduit was damaged and rendered unusable despite no construction road existing.
Therefore, we will probably have to postpone the utility connections until after the shell construction phase or even later.
The issue with the access strip and construction road brings another challenge.
For the electricity supply, I had the idea of placing an outdoor utility post directly at the corner of the plot. There is an existing masonry pillar there that will remain and could act as a protective buffer for the power post. However, the network operator’s offer places the connection on the opposite side of the access strip, right in the middle of the construction road.
I have contacted them about this, but if responding to an email takes half as long as processing the electricity application, I might get an answer in about a month.
There is also the question of where the temporary construction power will come from. The masons will need it, right?
A small side adventure: There’s an old gas tank still on the property, which unfortunately the demolition company will only take away when it’s empty.
We had a level indicator showing about 20%. We tried to reduce this by heating the existing building. But it’s hard to empty a tank at 34°C (93°F) outside temperature and a maximum thermostat setting of 30°C (86°F). So we thought a gas professional might pump it out and appreciate the gas. Not so — they want 250 EUR and their business is literally around the corner, just 800 meters (half a mile) from the plot.
Not much neighborhood spirit there.
I have now requested a ventilation system and am waiting for an official quote from the general contractor for the BAFA funding application, as well as a separate quote for myself.
I’m curious to see how this will pan out in combination with the subsidy.
I was already informed that an increase in the upper floor height will be necessary for this. It’s not too expensive (approx. 1900 EUR), but I wondered how this affects the building permit. The height is already specified there — can I just change it now? The construction manager says that an additional 12-13 cm (5-5.1 inches) is no problem since I am in the first row.
I don’t understand what that has to do with it, since my concern is that I’m building differently than originally approved. Does this require an official amendment?
And finally: We have a new addition. This guy (you can see him in my avatar) has pedigree and is basically noble.
Having studied history, I know that the nobility did not always behave properly, but stepping on clothes is surely not part of that...
Still, it’s a joy to watch him grow and thrive. He won’t get his own room, so no need to adjust the floor plan. :P
Wow, how time flies. Some progress has been made as well.
I received a fee notice for the negative certificate. 150 euros. For officially confirming what I painstakingly measured myself. Quite something. Well, porcelain mama’s box and all that.
We have now also been assigned new plot numbers. My plot has the same number as the old overall plot. My neighbors behind have the suffix A. Funny enough, the neighbor next door—the one who built the house on his father’s plot at the front and started less than 5m (16 feet) from the street—has the same number with the suffix B, while his father’s plot is numbered one higher. But his plot was carved out of his father’s land... Go figure the logic of the Berlin authorities.
Oh yes, the cost was 70 euros, and starting from 1.1.21 I have to display an illuminated plot number somewhere visible from the street!
Fortunately, the tax office has already informed me of the official land value and property tax assessment for my part of the plot (explicitly not a payment request).
The land register still hasn’t recorded the subdivision, which I find a bit odd... I will have to check with the notary how things stand on that front.
By the way, the plot is now actually free of utilities. This means the demolition could be scheduled (unfortunately only for 12.10.) and it will take about one week.
The topic of the new connection was more or less settled through a phone call with the contractor: The company’s representative explicitly recommended not placing the outdoor service pole in the public utility strip (GFL strip), even though the spot is practically blocked for driveway access by a tree anyway. The main point is that these 3m (10 feet) which are legally protected at the surface level must remain clear. Even if I am on good terms with my future neighbor now, a legal successor could insist that I remove the pole...
I am quite curious what this means regarding the tree in front of the plot, which blocks about 0.5–1m (1.5–3 feet) of this 3m strip.
Either way, this has led to me scheduling a connection appointment to set up the outdoor service pole, and now I have to find a suitable spot on the property boundary that is far enough from the utility strip, the tree, and the future construction road. I’m also already thinking about how to disguise the thing...
I answered the question about construction power etc. in another thread here (https://www.hausbau-forum.de/threads/hausanschlusssaeule-im-garten-vs-hausanschluss-direkt-im-Hauswirtschaftsraum.35706/post-434493).
In short: I can connect to the pole with a temporary power box, or the electrician assigned by the general contractor will handle it.
The supplementary offer for the ventilation system has arrived at around 16,000 euros, minus about 10,000 euros in BAFA subsidies = a 6,000-euro surcharge for me.
I have now commissioned this (https://www.hausbau-forum.de/threads/aufpreis-fuer-kwl-bei-gue-in-ordnung.36333/post-430988).
The staircase has been specified with an external staircase builder. It will be a closed ash wood stringer staircase with gray-painted treads, the rest white oiled (so that the grain shows through). Pricing is still pending.
The noble (but not always well-behaved) poodle is still alive and can now run faster than me (which isn’t that hard).
Until next time
Best regards
Tolentino
I received a fee notice for the negative certificate. 150 euros. For officially confirming what I painstakingly measured myself. Quite something. Well, porcelain mama’s box and all that.
We have now also been assigned new plot numbers. My plot has the same number as the old overall plot. My neighbors behind have the suffix A. Funny enough, the neighbor next door—the one who built the house on his father’s plot at the front and started less than 5m (16 feet) from the street—has the same number with the suffix B, while his father’s plot is numbered one higher. But his plot was carved out of his father’s land... Go figure the logic of the Berlin authorities.
Oh yes, the cost was 70 euros, and starting from 1.1.21 I have to display an illuminated plot number somewhere visible from the street!
Fortunately, the tax office has already informed me of the official land value and property tax assessment for my part of the plot (explicitly not a payment request).
The land register still hasn’t recorded the subdivision, which I find a bit odd... I will have to check with the notary how things stand on that front.
By the way, the plot is now actually free of utilities. This means the demolition could be scheduled (unfortunately only for 12.10.) and it will take about one week.
The topic of the new connection was more or less settled through a phone call with the contractor: The company’s representative explicitly recommended not placing the outdoor service pole in the public utility strip (GFL strip), even though the spot is practically blocked for driveway access by a tree anyway. The main point is that these 3m (10 feet) which are legally protected at the surface level must remain clear. Even if I am on good terms with my future neighbor now, a legal successor could insist that I remove the pole...
I am quite curious what this means regarding the tree in front of the plot, which blocks about 0.5–1m (1.5–3 feet) of this 3m strip.
Either way, this has led to me scheduling a connection appointment to set up the outdoor service pole, and now I have to find a suitable spot on the property boundary that is far enough from the utility strip, the tree, and the future construction road. I’m also already thinking about how to disguise the thing...
I answered the question about construction power etc. in another thread here (https://www.hausbau-forum.de/threads/hausanschlusssaeule-im-garten-vs-hausanschluss-direkt-im-Hauswirtschaftsraum.35706/post-434493).
In short: I can connect to the pole with a temporary power box, or the electrician assigned by the general contractor will handle it.
The supplementary offer for the ventilation system has arrived at around 16,000 euros, minus about 10,000 euros in BAFA subsidies = a 6,000-euro surcharge for me.
I have now commissioned this (https://www.hausbau-forum.de/threads/aufpreis-fuer-kwl-bei-gue-in-ordnung.36333/post-430988).
The staircase has been specified with an external staircase builder. It will be a closed ash wood stringer staircase with gray-painted treads, the rest white oiled (so that the grain shows through). Pricing is still pending.
The noble (but not always well-behaved) poodle is still alive and can now run faster than me (which isn’t that hard).
Until next time
Best regards
Tolentino